Riu Palace Riviera Maya Reviews

The Hotel RIU Palace Riviera Maya opened in February 2006 and offers 5-star all-inclusive accommodations. Located in the massive RIU resort complex, the RIU Riviera Maya Hotel fronts a beautiful palm lined Caribbean beach. The large pool is the focal point of the resort features a swim-up bar and jacuzzi. Being a part of a Playacar development, the RIU Palace Riviera Maya Hotel also has an exceptional 18-hole golf course nearby.

Remarks:
"The staff of the hotel was excellent and dining options were good but…In addition to the wide-spread stomach flu, the steam-room was broken, A/C in the room was generating the disgusting “sewage like” smell. The same smell made using of the jacuzzi in the Gym impossible. The ceramic tiles made the pool area extremely dangerous. After spending several years in RIU resorts I did not imagine that kind of accommodations. This is the IKEA style palace." – Sofia from Boston, Massachusetts

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Fran

From: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Trip Date: March, 2013

Overall Rating: 4

Dining at Resort: 5

Sleeping Room: 3

Pool Area: 4

Beach Area: 5

Friendly Staff: 4

Remarks:
"This is our fourth visit to Playa Del Carmen. The first time staying at the Riu Palace Riviera. Previous 3 vacations we have stayed at the Riu Palace Mexico. We were advised to stay at the Riviera due to the recent modern renovations at the Riu Mexico. All 3 of our previous stays at the Riu Mexico we were given beautiful Jr. Suites, presumed being our 4th visit to the Riu chain that we again would have a nice room, not the case. We were put on the 3rd floor overlooking the roof and into the hotel bar in the lobby. In addition no railings, instead when sitting were faced with solid wall of concrete (made for terrific view). To make matters worse the toilet was not working properly and upon 3rd complaint to management 3 days after our arrival someone was sent to attempt a repair, this was 5:30pm Saturday evening. We left our room around 7:30 to go for dinner and upon arrival back in the room around 12:30am the room had the most fowl smell, the toilet was running, in fact the water was swirling. My husband went downstairs to demand another room of which we were given at 1:30am and told it was temporary we would have a upgrade Sunday morning. Sunday morning arrives and we are now informed that a room will not be available until 3pm. Alot of inconvenience when this should have been rectified after the first mention to front desk. We did receive a Jr. Suite at 3pm, of which should have been assigned to us upon check in! Where, we also have always enjoyed the buffet at the RIU Mexico, this buffet was disorganized and lacked variety. At breakfast you could easily stand in line waiting for a omelet for 10 minutes, never before. The servers in both al la carte and the buffet were awesome and made up for the food choices and disorganization. As this was our first bad experience at the RIU Chain. We will give them another chance, next time though we will return to the Riu Mexico and hopefully just because they have modernized the hotel and decorated with bright colors the service and food including the front desk staff will be the same as previous visits." – Fran from Vancouver, BC, Canada

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Karla

From: Louisville, Kentucky

Trip Date: February, 2013

Overall Rating: 3

Dining at Resort: 4

Sleeping Room: 3

Pool Area: 4

Beach Area: 4

Friendly Staff: 4

Remarks:
"Upon arriving at the hotel, from the lobby it was beautiful and spotless. Then I went to my room, the smell was horrible. It was a old musty mildew smell that never went away. I went to the front desk and ask if something could be done, nothing was. Thinking it may get better by opening the doors, turning the fan and a/c up, but nothing helped. By the third day I went to remove a swimsuit that I had not worn and it was damp. Returning home with my luggage, everything rather I wore it or not had to be cleaned including anything that was cloth. I had to use odor ban on my luggage and purses to remove the smell. I even took my favorite pillow with me and had to throw it away went I returned. I can’t believe spending almost $5000.00 for this 5-star resort and this is what I endured for 7 days. The staff at the restaurant and poolside were very friendly and enjoyed that part of the stay but the room sucked." – Karla from Louisville, Kentucky

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Holly

From: Valencia, California

Trip Date: August, 2012

Overall Rating: 2

Dining at Resort: 3

Sleeping Room: 3

Pool Area: 4

Beach Area: 4

Friendly Staff: 2

Remarks:
"We stayed on Cozumel for several days prior to the RIU Palace Riviera, where we met up with some family. It was a very nice resort and service on the beach and in the restaurants was great. We had a problem in that we were unable to get there on the first day because of Hurricane Ernesto. The ferries were not running, and all the flights were booked. I called the hotel twice to let them know we had a problem getting there. The hotel would not provide any refunds—not even a partial. If this had been a hotel in the U.S. I know they would not have charged us. I booked through hotels.com and they tried to work with the hotel—even spoke to a manager but were unable to help. Therefore, this is very disappointing and I would not stay there again." – Holly from Valencia, California

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Carole

From: Lexington, Kentucky

Trip Date: June, 2012

Overall Rating: 4

Dining at Resort: 4

Sleeping Room: 2

Pool Area: 4

Beach Area: 5

Friendly Staff: 5

Remarks:
"This resort is gorgeous, with so much potential. I noticed some agencies rank it a five star and others a four. If they wanted to be a consistent FIVE – paint the rooms and change conforters and over all clean the rooms thoroughly. We even had problem with, what seemed like gnats. The building is one of the prettiest I have ever seen (been to Mexico well over 15 times). And the staff. . .they are the BEST! I would pick staff over anything! Also they do not have the constant noise at night (if traveling with kids) like say Dreams resort has due to all their wedding receptions. Over all great time and great staff and drinks. So many of the all inclusive 4 and 5 stars only give good service to the people tipping." – Carole from Lexington, Kentucky

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Sara

From: New York City, New York

Trip Date: September, 2011

Overall Rating: 5

Dining at Resort: 4

Sleeping Room: 5

Pool Area: 5

Beach Area: 5

Friendly Staff: 5

Remarks:
"I have just read the ONLY bad review for this hotel which promted me to write my own review. Seriously, some people should not leave their homes if they can not enjoy themselves anywhere else and they complain just about everything. The hotel was fantastic in every single way. The rooms were clean, the staff friendly and gracious, so eager to please. There is a little bit of a walk from the elevator to the rooms, depending of where the room is located, but the hotel is only 3 floors, and there are stairs at different points of the halways so depending where you are, you can take the stairs or the elevators, not a big deal. The food at the buffet was good, plenty of choices; salad, fish, steak, soup, etc.. I was not a big fan of the Japanese restaurant (bad quality) but the other specialty restaurants were great, especially the Krystal and Steak House Chilli’s. Most amazing, beautiful beach, the water was warm and calm, it felt just like a giant pool. Pool was clean, the bar at it amazing and the cocktails were delicious, the staff at the pool bar were also super nice. I cant wait to go back…I am already planning my next vacation there.. LOVED IT!" – Sara from New York City, New York

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Ginny

From: Arnold, Maryland

Trip Date: March, 2011

Overall Rating: 5

Dining at Resort: 4

Sleeping Room: 5

Pool Area: 4

Beach Area: 5

Friendly Staff: 5

Remarks:
"My college age daughters and I just returned. We had a fantastic time. The staff could not help you enough. The beach was beautiful. I gave the pool area a four only because you had to get up and save a seat early in the am if you wanted to sit by the pool. The pool itself is large to accommodate a large group of people as well as children. The resort is in a gated community, felt very safe, outdoor shopping is in walking distance. Breakfast and lunch buffets have a variety of foods to please everyone. You have to make dinner reservations 3 days in advance so you have to plan ahead. Name brand liquour and the staff was always ready to get you a drink. I loved the place and would return. The only draw back, it is about an hour from the airport. Olympus tours was also very good, organized and made shuttle to and from the airport very easy." – Ginny from Arnold, Maryland

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: The Mom

From: USA

Trip Date: June, 2010

Overall Rating: 2

Dining at Resort: 1

Sleeping Room: 2

Pool Area: 4

Beach Area: 4

Friendly Staff: 2

Remarks:
"Here is my basic rundown. THE BAD:
1. 45 min ride from Airport. Was not informed of this and hotel transportation did not include a car seat for my infant. Spent entire ride terrified for the safety of my child.
2. Room was not ready at 6pm. Thats right, 6 pm. We were told to wait “20” minutes, 2 hours later at 7pm, the room still wasnt ready but we went inside anyways while the maid finished.
3.While the room was “ok.” Had a king sized bed, nice jacuzzi tub and sofa area to watch tv, the view from our room was HORRIBLE. They must have put us in the worst room possible. Our view from our balcony was a factory next door…well the roof of the factory with the gigantic LOUD a/c units on the roof that hummed us to sleep every night.
4. Cleanliness of linens and towels. TERRIBLE. Stains on everything. Looks like someone bleed out on one of the sheets that we had. I just ripped it off the bed and threw it on the floor. One set of sheets we had was soured as well. Talk about a stinky night. Next night the sheets smelled so heavy of bleach my eyes were watering. At least I know they were sanitized?
5.Food. The only decent meal was breakfast at the buffet place. When we went down there I had jokingly told my husband that I was afraid that I was going to gain 10 lbs, well I actually LOST 10 lbs because I couldnt eat the food! If it wasnt over salted (which most stuff was…) it had flies on it or it was spoiled tasting. The special (Make a reservation at least 3 days in advance) restaurants were laughable. At best the food was not good and worst it made some of us ill. My husband is upstairs now with a fever and sickness from our meal last night at the “Japanese” restaurant.
6. Room Service. Ok I know its all inclusive and its free but how about more than 3 items on the room service menu? One cannot live on ham and cheese, cheese cake and cheese nachos alone. (Especially when your restaurant foods are so poor.)
7. Service. While the waitstaff did their best to help and be prompt about stuff the front desk rather sucked. Our room did not have a room service menu and I called down to the front desk and they said that they would send one up right away. 2 hours later, no menu, so I call down again and 20 mins later I get a menu in GERMAN. So I called down again and apologized but I needed an English menu…I never got the menu. The next day I went down stairs, I figured, hey I would pick it up myself but Noooo they cant do that, the maids have to bring it. 1 hour later I finally got a menu in English. (Of course I found out it wasnt worth it when I saw it had a grand total of like 6 items on it, no joke!) Front Desk drama continues…On night 4 at the hotel hubby and I were awakened at 4am to the sounds of a woman screaming bloody murder, glasses breaking and silverware hitting the tiles out side our door. My mother in law tries to call the front desk for help because this was an all out brawl/fight going on and never got an answer. The next morning we went out and there was blood all over the floor the walls, my mother in laws door…it was everywhere. Looked like a scene from a horror flick. So I went downstairs and asked the front desk if they knew about it and they said “Yes, we are going to clean it.” Im like when is that exactly? Its been there all night and I just had to roll my childs stroller through BLOOD to get to the one elevator in this place! They eventually did clean up the blood on the floor at least…about 2 hours later…but the blood spray on the walls was still there when we left this morning!
8. The ONE Elevator that was 400 miles from our room. Yes, one sad elevator that was 40 rooms down from our room (about 1/2 mile hike) that ended up in the dark, scary KITCHEN Of a restaurant that you had to navigate through the DARK on SLICK WET FLOORS to get your child outside into the main plaza. Really seriously? I know its Mexico but dont they have any handicap laws? Ok forget that, how about a resort so expensive, lets at least have a safe, friendly way to navigate our grounds with a wheelchair or stroller? Ok…so that was the bad.

The GOOD:
1. The ocean was really pretty. (Though as the other poster mentioned it had some serious undertow problems while we were there. Constant “Red” flags.)
2. The pool was pretty. I didnt find that it smelled funny.
3. The wait staff was 90% friendly and prompt with requests.
4. My sister-in-law’s wedding ceremony was beautiful. I hope she had a good time. At least that was positive.
5. Their Pina Coladas were awesome.
6. The breakfast buffet especially the coffee and sopapillas.
7. The hotel grounds were really pretty." – The Mom from United States of America

Traveler Review of: Riu Palace Riviera Maya

Reviewed By: Leo

From: Mobile, Alabama

Trip Date: June, 2009

Overall Rating: 5

Dining at Resort: 5

Sleeping Room: 4

Pool Area: 5

Beach Area: 4

Friendly Staff: 5

Remarks:
"Fabulous resort. Been there three times and each time has been wonderful. The restaurants are great, especially their steak house on the beach. I was a bit dissappointed the first time I went when I was told that I had missed the time to make reservation and would have to eat buffet (reservations are made early afternoon and can be made for several nights at once). The Buffet was awesome, besides the gorgeous room and the great staff, the food was great. The only downside to the dinning is the deserts. If you are American, the desserts are a little different, many of the chocolate items have more of a cocoa taste (not dark taste). But still very good. Accomodations are great as well. The hotel staff is amazing and will do anything for you. It is true that the room service menu (which is included in the all inclusive) is small, but on two days my wife and I got bored with what was offered so we wrote in other items just out of curiosity and every bit of it was brought to our room with out complaint and even extra flowers. These people are great. I know tips are included but I would reccommend tipping them as it seems to push them an extra two miles past the extra mile they go for you. Enjoy, you will not regret it, I am going again on Monday!" – Leo from Mobile, Alabama